Alaphilippe makes amends in uphill finale

Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe more than made up for a disappointing team time trial for Deceuninck-Quick Step as he claimed his first-ever individual stage victory at Tirreno-Adriatico, only five days after winning Strade Bianche. He outsprinted Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) and Italy’s Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First) in the uphill finish of Pomarance, while Englishman Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scott), closing in fifth place, missed out on the time bonus but moved into the lead of the overall classification, taking over from his team-mate Michael Hepburn.

The stage winner, Julian Alaphilippe, said: “The time trial wasn’t the best way to start the race but yesterday was yesterday. Today, myself and the whole team were very motivated to win the stage. It’s an incredible win. If we continue like that, I might still be close to GC by the end. If we don’t, I won’t be disappointed considering the nice feeling today’s victory brings.”

The Maglia Azzurra, Adam Yates, said: “It would have been nice for me to win today but the finish didn’t exactly suit me. There were stronger guys than me but, after tomorrow’s stage, there are two stages that I can challenge for time bonuses. With no summit finish this year and an individual time trial to finish with, it’s pretty difficult for me to win Tirreno-Adriatico, but I came here to win a stage and do well on GC. We’ve been doing pretty well so far and we’ll try to win more.”

STATISTICS

Julian Alaphilippe takes the ninth stage win by a French rider at Tirreno-Adriatico. The last French stage winner was Julien El Farès in 2009 at Capannori. Alaphilippe is the first rider to win Strade Bianche and the first individual stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in a row.

It’s only the second time Adam Yates leads a stage race, after the Presidential Tour of Turkey he won as a neo pro five years ago. He won stage five of Tirreno-Adriatico in Fiottrano last year. It’s the 10th time a British rider leads Tirreno-Adriatico. No British cyclist has yet won the overall race.

Greg Van Avermaet makes the top three of a stage in Tirreno-Adriatico for the first time in three years after he won stage six to Cepagatti on the eve of his overall victory in 2016.

TOMORROW’S STAGEStage 3 – Pomarance – Foligno 226km
The route is very long and quite wavy in the first part, where it follows the undulations of the territory of Siena and takes in categorised climbs up Passo del Rospatoio and Passo della Foce. Past Chiusi, the route levels out and rolls along the Trasimeno plain on mainly straight roads (narrow at points), all the way to Foligno.

Final kilometres
The final kilometres are quite uncomplicated up to 2,500m from the finish. From here on, a series of bends leads all the way to the home straight, and the road narrows at points. There is just one last slight bend 500m before the finish. The home straight is 160m long on 7m-wide tarmac.

CURIOSITIESCrete Senesi
The Crete Senesi is located in the the area south-east of Siena, which includes the municipal territories of Asciano, Buonconvento, Monteroni d’Arbia, Rapolano Terme, Montalcino and Trequanda. The name derives from the clay, present in the ground, which gives the landscape a lunar appearance. Typical shapes of the terrain are the calanques (“calanchi”), the flounces (“balze”) and the biancane. The area is known for the production of the white truffle, and hosts a festival and a museum both dedicated to the so-called “diamond of the Crete”.